The drive from Rome to Tuscany was less than three hours, simple! However, we took a short detour & popped on over to a small town called Todi. My hub spent a few months studying abroad in Todi years ago, so we surely had to say hello to the family & I had to see the town he always chats about! The family was pure – living on a chicken farm, harvesting grapes & living life, to me, seems like paradise. We were welcomed with open arms, one of the sons poured us homemade wine straight from the barrel & asked us to stay for lunch as soon as we arrived. When he mentioned that lunch was going to include wild asparagus I knew we had to stay! The dish is called Bosciaolo, and is a traditional pasta dish in the region. It includes fresh farm eggs, pig cheek, freshly pressed EVOO, wild asparagus, chili flakes & pasta. This was by far one of our best dishes in Italy to date!

If you are intrigued to whip up this dish then follow the directions below…

Cut up 1C wild asparagus, sauté in 2T EVOO – lower heat & let simmer

Dice up 1/4C pig cheek (is that in our grocery stores?) and sauté – add to asparagus when crisp (in place of pig cheek you could use thick slices of bacon)

Cook pasta for four people, drain when ready & add back into the pot (leave a little of the pasta water at the bottom)